The Meaning Of Respect
by slowdance
Summary: Would the madness ever stop? Shinkumiish.


Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Gokusen or any of it's Characters. Though I'd love to run my fingers through Shin's hair...

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He looked around from his seat at the back of the room. The class was in chaos.

There she was in the front trying to get the class to solve a relatively brainless mathematical question(the answer was 15). But yet, she didn't even seem to notice the boy in front of her drooling over magazines of the pornographic type. Shin sighed and turned to the left, his classmates were throwing a ball around. He turned to the right, they were strumming the guitar, having the time of their lives.

He shook his head. Would the madness ever stop?

It was at times like these(which was all the time) when he would wonder what he was doing. Why did he even bother coming to school, when all they seemed to do was anything except study? Well, it wasn't that he particularly enjoyed studying(he loathed it), but he reasoned that he could use another few extra hours of sleep. He knew the only reason he came to school was because of his teacher. He had to admit, she wasn't the best teacher in the world when teaching came to mind, but she wasn't exactly that bad either.

No, the teaching was only futile because not a single person in the room was actually listening to her. Most of them didn't even know their multiplication table from 3 onwards. So what was she actually doing? Not that he knew. Not that he cared.

"Oei, Noda, what's the answer to this question?" She called out from the front.

"256.0001!" He shouted from his desk.

"WRONG! Are you even paying attention?"

"'Course I am!" He insisted.

She shook her head and turned back to the board. Shin observed the scene with mild amusement and a smirk surfaced on his face. He knew what was coming next.

"Sawada! You there giggling at the back! What's the answer?" She always targeted him, especially after some other student gave her a rubbish answer. It was because he could guarantee her the correct answer, even if he was sleeping at the back 3/4 of the time.

"15." He said calmly.

"Thank you! Somehow I think you're the only one in class who actually knows what to do." She sighed in exasperation. It was at times like these(which were all the time) that she really didn't know how to handle this class. They honestly were good kids, but she wouldn't say that studying was their forte.

"I try my best." He replied, staring at her.

She turned her back toward the class and continued scribbling numbers on the board. With all the ruckus going on in the class, she seemed like she was mumbling to herself, because nobody could even hear her. He rested his head on his desk and continued observing her with intrigue.

His teacher was a very interesting character. She would be dense and half-witted one minute, then passionate and enthusiatic another. She could be fierce and strict at one moment, and in another moment she could be sitting right next to him laughing along to their antics. He looked up to her because she was the first person never to doubt their capabilities.

To the rest of the world they were just delinquints who wasted their time in arcades and karaoke lounges, students who were only in the education system because it was compulsory, a group of boys who would never make it in the real world. However in her eyes, they were her precious students. She treated them as human beings with worth. She made them feel like they were important, she brought out their good qualities(there weren't many).

Hell, she was the only teacher who had dared to put up a fight against them. And won.

He knew the class respected her for that. Secretly(because she'd start acting all weird and funny if she found out), they looked up to her as their role model. She was the first teacher that the class cared so much about(thank god she never noticed it). And no, it wasn't because of her looks, though sometimes he thought she would have been quite attractive if she lost the specs, got a haircut and burnt her jerseys. But, the class didn't need to know that.

The bell finally rang, signalling the end of the school day. He picked his bag up and left before she dismissed them.

"Right, so that's it for today! Please go home and revise your work! Thank you class!"

He could hear her as he strolled down the hall.

**A/N:** First Gokusen fic! please comment!


End file.
